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Drupal & Angular 2

Submitted by dryer
on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 17:33

Drupal and Angular communities are forging a relationship that might have a significant impact on the future of both systems. It seems like a good match to couple Drupal 8 with Angular 2 as both have gone through large changes in the future, but Drupal 8 still lacks a coherent de-facto SPA framework.

WordPress has already chosen React.js for its Calypso shell and has the upper hand in this case. Developers know what to focus on. For both projects this is a big choice, since unlike the use of jQuery a utility library - building your admin interface around a framework like Angular 2 or an ecosystem like React.js is a very long term choice.

In the volatile world of JavaScript choosing a side is a risky move. Just imagine if Drupal had adopted the soon deprecated Angular 1.x for Drupal 8. Both React and and Angular are long term investments. Going with standard technologies like Web Components, vanilla JavaScript and native Web APIs might be the actual winner in the long term: You (probably) don't need a JavaScript framework

Alienating developers is also something that is worth considering in such a large change. Imagine the developer entrenched in Drupal 7 and jQuery developers having to move out of their comfort zone not only with PHP, but now with JavaScript too. Angular has a whole scary vocabulary of it's own with RxJS, TypeScript, Universal Rendering and more. Hiring a real full stack developer is increasingly like hunting a unicorn...

The transition from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 and Angular 1 to Angular 2 are similar as the fundamentals of the systems are shifting. For Drupal developers Drupal 7 and jQuery skills are increasingly useless going forward - same applies to Angular 1.x skills. This might cause some Drupal 7 and Angular 1 developers to take the opportunity to go for something else completely.